Editorial: Help that can pay dividends for the mentally ill

Monday

Dec 28, 2009 at 12:01 AMDec 28, 2009 at 4:22 PM

Is justice done when nonviolent criminals battling mental health problems are jailed or fined for their conduct? Doesn't helping them with their underlying condition serve them, and ultimately society, better?

Is justice done when nonviolent criminals battling mental health problems are jailed or fined for their conduct? Doesn't helping them with their underlying condition serve them, and ultimately society, better?

The recent announcement of a $500,000 appropriation from the federal government to help Peoria County start a mental health court offers an opportunity to bring real justice - not the one-size-fits-all kind - to those who are mentally ill.

Call this a carrot-and-stick approach. Men and women who have committed crimes but are clearly suffering from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or any of a host of other conditions would be given the chance to get treatment for their underlying ailments, confront their demons and get control of their behavior through medication and professional care. They'd have to obey a series of court-ordered conditions, from medical or psychological check-ups to reporting to authorities while receiving the care. Those who can't or won't follow through -- and there are certainly going to be some -- still have their initial sentence hanging over their heads.

"The criminal justice system is very ill-equipped to handle mental illness," Stuart Borden, the chief judge of the 10th Judicial Circuit, says. "Warehousing these people doesn't help."

Indeed, there have been successes with this alternative approach. Officials from San Antonio, Texas, were recently in Bloomington to tout their mental health court achievements. In their program's first 180 days, more than $3 million in taxpayer money was saved in jail and court costs.

Those savings have the potential to grow in the long term as well. Another court, this one in Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh, has had been up and running since 2001. Over that time, less than 10 percent of the people who have been through it have reoffended. The typical recidivism rate for convicts in ordinary felony and misdemeanor courts has been pegged at more than six times that.

Fewer second offenses -- let alone third, fourth, etc. -- should mean a less-clogged court system and fewer people jailed. Moreover, it means people who are able to play a productive role in society. "With a court order to accept treatment, sometimes those three to six months of taking the proper medications can make all the difference" in turning someone's life around, says Dr. Arun Pinto, the medical director at Peoria's Human Service Center.

As for the funding, yes, this money came through as an earmark, this one specifically set aside by Sen. Richard Durbin. We've certainly been critical of some of those over the years -- especially the some 7,000 earmarks in the recent $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill and $636 billion defense appropriations bill. Ideally, this would be the state's responsibility, not Uncle Sam's. Nonetheless, this strikes us as an example of when earmarks can work properly for a true government purpose.

Unlike, say, the $5 million House Speaker Nancy Pelosi set aside for a local project on a shuttered military base that neither the Defense Department nor the National Park Service -- its current overseer -- asked for, this has the potential to serve a long-term good. Peoria County is expected to match the one-time appropriation, and officials hope to see an ultimate savings by being able to reduce jail overcrowding and to have fewer people parading through the courts for repeat offenses.

Ultimately the theory here is the same as for the drug, domestic violence and DUI courts that the local judicial circuit already has in place; those involved speak highly of how effective those have been. Judges and others in the system -- prosecutors, public defenders, law enforcement officials, politicians - have done extensive research on other mental health courts around the state and country before trying to bring one here. They'll all have a voice in determining how the local court will be structured, Peoria County Administrator Patrick Urich says. That includes who will be eligible and how many people are likely to be helped, along with follow-up as to whether the investment is actually paying dividends.

For all but the most serious of crimes, this deserves a chance, and the community's backing.

Peoria Journal Star

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